Senior Teachers

Sahajananda, the main founder of Hridaya Yoga, is a meditation and hatha yoga teacher with over 30 years of experience. His message conveys the non-dual tantric teachings. An engineer in electronics by education, Sahajananda started practicing yoga and meditation in 1981, the year in which yoga was banned in Communist Romania. This fact only brought him more depth, determination, and spiritual aspiration. At age 14, the revelation of true Love came when he first met Simona. This sparked the first inspirations regarding the core message of Hridaya. Her presence was both an inspiration and a guide for what sacredness and wonderment of…

Antoaneta Maria Gotea was born in July 1972, in Bucharest, Romania. The memories from her early age about her father practicing complicated physical exercises (known in yoga as uddiyana bandha) and unusual breathing (pranayama) synergistically connected with her mother’s teachings about the existence of subtle bodies and reincarnation, and this blossomed later in a genuine spiritual aspiration. Her search for an authentic spiritual path led her at the age of 21 to a yoga course while she was a student at Politechnical University in Bucharest. She studied Raja yoga, Mahavidya yoga and Kashmir Shaivism at a yoga school in Romania.…

Claud, a Romanian-born Leo, moved to New York City in his adolescent years, growing up there and becoming a US citizen. An engineer by schooling but recent computer geek by employment, he feels compelled to teach Yoga to those who are seeking spiritualization of their lives. Growth and evolution are his big motivators, both for himself and for others. Evolution toward what? He believes the beauty of life is available to everyone who asks for it. He feels Yoga is a wonderful tradition, a tested tradition, and for those who have questions outside of the accepted tracks, it can prove…

International Teachers

Craig is originally from Northern England and has been practicing yoga and meditation since 2007. During his first 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat with Sahajananda in 2010, Craig experienced a deep peak experience that changed his life. During the practice of meditation he felt like his chest was being ripped open and an endless stream of love and compassion flowed from his heart. Since that time, he has aspired to be a Hridaya teacher and he completed the Hridaya Teacher Training Course (HTTC) in December 2013. Since 2015, Craig has been the HTTC anatomy and physiology teacher. He has an extensive…

Originally from Spain, Luna has been sharing the Hridaya teachings informally since she first discovered them in 2012. A profound fascination with the non-dual teachings and a burning longing to directly experience their truth led her to deepen her practice and join the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2014. She now teaches with the certainty that life can be lived from the Heart, in full openness, and with a loving desire for all sentient beings to reveal their real nature, to come into the fullness of who they truly are. Luna participated in the 2015 49-Day Prathyabhijna Retreat, co-led a 30-Day Hridaya…

When Alison first came to yoga for its health benefits in 2010, she had no idea that the profound spiritual path unfolding before her would become her life’s calling! It is Alison’s passion to share the yogic teachings and the message of the Heart with all those who seek Truth. A Truth-seeker herself, Alison’s path led her to schools and teachers in India, Thailand, Canada, and Mexico, where she explored the deep reality that yoga and meditation point us toward. When Alison found Hridaya Yoga in 2012, she knew she had comes across a true gem in this community where…

Andreas Daum is a meditation and hatha yoga teacher at Hridaya Yoga and currently serves as the Program Manager of the school. In 2014, he started to teach the Module 1 Intensive at the Hridaya Yoga Center in Mexico. He then led 10-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreats during the summer season. Since then, he has offered yoga classes in the Canary Islands of Spain and taught multiple meditation retreats in the Sacred Valley in Peru and at Lake Titicaca. Andreas was born in Austria in 1985, but left his home and career to enjoy the flow of life. He travelled the world…

David’s spiritual journey began at a young age, with a deep intuition and longing for a connection to Truth. It was only when he came to Mazunte and first experienced the Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat that he really connected to the truth of the non-dual teachings and the truth within himself. David was grateful to participate in both the 49-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat and the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2015. David has served the Hridaya Community as a karma yogi, the Karma Yoga Program Coordinator, and as a teacher. He feels so blessed to share from the Heart…

Before finding yoga, Georgian earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, became a massage therapist, and trained in martial arts, kickboxing, swimming, basketball, and chess. Inspired to begin studying yoga by his uncle, he practiced for seven years at MISA (Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute) in Romania. He spent a further four-and-a-half years residing at an ashram in Romania, deepening his practice of karma yoga, hatha yoga, and meditation. At a turbulent point in his life, Georgian discovered the Kamala Meditation and Yoga Center in Brasov, Romania. He spent four years in service at Kamala, which included translating for…

My name is Iris. Everything I did in my life was to bring me closer to the truth, to love, to the perception of oneness. I am practicing Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Sound Healing, Pre-and Perinatal-Birth and Attachment Therapy, and of course Hridaya Hatha Yoga and Meditation. But really, beyond all this, I just am.

Kyle’s spiritual seeking and aspiration to find a deeper Truth began when he was just a 15-year-old boy studying Buddhism in England. After traveling to Peru in 2013 to work with plant medicines, he met Sahajananda. Kyle connected very deeply with the teachings during his first Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat. He decided to come to Mexico to go deeper in his practice and to partake in the Hridaya Teacher Training Course. Since that time, Kyle has been sharing the teachings and leading Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreats in many countries in Latin America. Kyle currently teaches at the Hridaya Yoga Center…

After practicing yoga and meditation for several years, when Lindsay encountered the Hridaya practice of focusing on the Heart she discovered a deeper purpose in life. In 2013, Lindsay attended a hatha yoga teacher training course in Baja California, Mexico and later taught yoga and personal retreats in Costa Rica. She completed the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2015. Lindsay is extremely passionate about gardening and music, playing both percussion and guitar. She is currently serving as a teacher at the Hridaya Yoga Center in Mazunte and leads the Saturday evening bhajans. She aspires to continue opening her heart and…

Australian born and raised in the Outback, Paige has always felt deeply connected to the earth. She has a background in psychology and counseling, and is a perseverant seeker of Truth. She first fell in love with Hridaya during a 10-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat with Sahajananda in 2012. Since then, she has returned again and again to the sangha and the teachings, finding courage and inspiration to delve ever deeper into the Heart. Paige is deeply passionate about Self-enquiry, long solitary retreats, and the practice of karma yoga. She completed the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2015 and currently…

In 2010, Will gave up his apartment, many of his belongings and a budding career as a mechanical engineer in order to travel the world. He left everything he knew, unsure of what he was looking for, and unsure of what he would find. After nine months of relaxing, enjoying himself and going on adventures, he spent some time at a remote Buddhist meditation retreat center in India. Although his interest in spirituality was not yet piqued, he was deeply touched by the experience, received unexpected emotional healing, and began to value generosity and compassion more than success in career,…

A prophetic dream led Dee to magical Lake Atitlán, Guatemala in 2012. Her journey was accelerated through metaphysical experiences in extended silence while meditating upon the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Through even more Grace, she discovered the Hridaya Yoga Center two years later. The profound non-dual teachings put her experiences into perspective by helping her discover the Stillness that is her True Nature. She described her first experience of a Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat as feeling “like a kid in a spiritual candy store. A South African/British teacher who completed the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2015, Dee holds a…

Chris works as a movement and dance facilitator around the globe. She facilitates women’s groups as well as tantra and dance workshops. She also works as a freelance performance artist. Through the years, she has had the privilege to study with some of the finest spiritual/movement pioneers in the world, and consequently incorporates aspects of Eastern Philosophy, Sufism, Yoga, SkyDancing Tantra, and a diverse range of movement practices in her teaching. Chris holds a Master of Arts (with Distinction) in Creative Practice, Dance Professional Practice Pathway from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, United Kingdom (2014), and a…

Enrique is an international meditation and yoga teacher, member of the Hridaya Yoga community, and founder of Casa Hridaya in Mexico City. He shares the teachings he has received from his teachers and his different practices. He started his meditation practice with yearly Vipassana retreats (under the teachings shared by S.N. Goenka). He continued this practice for many years, which allowed him to integrate meditation into his daily life while he was working as a marketing and media director in the multinational corporate scene. After meeting his Kabbalah teacher (Rab J.A.F.), for several years he studied the mysticism of the Torah…

Since stepping on the path of Hridaya in 2013, the Heart has been Uma Esmeralda’s guide. It taught her to trust and open more and more to what is here right now. It has been a journey of going deeper in the quest of “Who am I?” and seeing how the magic of life unfolds in wonderful ways. Uma Esmeralda speaks about it as doors opening that she had never known existed. It has brought the release of layers that no longer serve her. Uma Esmeralda has experienced major inner shifts as well as transformations from spiritual healing. The way…

When Naomi first discovered Hridaya Yoga through a 10-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat in 2011, she had the profound feeling that she had finally come home. At that time, she was about to embark on further university study back in New Zealand, but maintained a quiet confidence that her path would lead her back to Hridaya. Five years later, with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with honors, a Master of Science in Psychology, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology, she made her way to Mazunte to complete the 2016 Hridaya Teacher Training Course. These teachings enabled her…

Dominique is a Hridaya Yoga and Mystical Dance teacher as well as the founder of WanderWomenClub, a virtual sangha (online tribe) for female spiritual seekers who love to travel. Dominique is incredibly grateful and indebted to Sahajananda, Antoaneta, and all of the teachers that have passed down the wisdom and beauty of the Spiritual Heart to her. She also appreciates the Hridaya Community for the sweetness of the new home and family she has found here. They have changed her life. As she continues to let go of what her ego thinks is best for her and witnesses her own path…

Adam Caplan began practicing yoga in high school as a means of improving flexibility to enhance athletic performance. What started out as an experiment with a supplemental stretching routine eventually evolved into a conscious quest for Truth. Motivated by the feeling that “there is something more out there,” Adam studied and practiced many different styles of yoga and a variety of different types of meditation. He explored some of the world’s religions and mystical traditions academically, and studied Buddhism and meditation while living in a monastery in Bodh Gaya, India. Adam has sat many meditation retreats (Vipassana, Zen, and Hridaya, among other…

Adina is a Saraswati Devi, an introverted Leo who has dedicated her life to Self-realization, helping and guiding others and bringing the Truth into the world. Adina has studied meditation since 1992, and yoga since 1998 – after years of spontaneous yoga practice and introspection through her entire childhood, the feeling of “being guided” from a subtle plane of existence, super-conscious awareness, dedication to righteousness, the sense of sacredness and Divine Grace. She has undergone her first years of seeking into spirituality on her own, during her teenage, reading books and searching through libraries and documents archives with fervor and…

Allie Reece first started practicing yoga as a way to clean up her mind and heal her heart. From the beginning, she intuitively knew that yoga would help but she never imagined that she had stumbled upon a sacred jewel that would change her life forever. With practice, Allie improved her focus and concentration, and she was pleased to discover that yoga provided her with so much more: her mental attitude shifted, she felt in harmony with everything around her and she became more centered and grounded. It was as though she had finally found what she was looking for.…

Arjuna grew up behind the Berlin Wall and followed an academic career until taking his first Vipassana course in 1998, which made him realize what there really is to explore – the essence of who we ultimately are beyond all appearances. Getting into Yoga soon after and studying different styles while traveling the world for twelve years gave rise to the vision of establishing a spiritual education center. This has now manifested for him and his wife Arpita in the shape of the serene Mahadevi Ashram, surrounded by lush tropical jungle and set in an ancient and picturesque volcanic crater, right…

Ava Irani first came across spiritually through a Buddhist teacher by chance (as it usually happens) in Sydney, Australia when she was 22. Although she was always thirsty for something greater, more profound, her entire life, she wasn’t ripe for any spiritual path until she came across Master Behram Ghista. Through his simple ‘self-help’ discourse with a Buddhist foundation, she found herself intensely and irreversible attracted to spirituality, beauty and evolution. Ava found the Hridaya system in 2011 whilst studying to be a yoga teacher in Thailand. She immediately fell in love with the directness and authenticity of Hridaya Yoga.…

While looking for meaning, I studied clouds, lightning, children’s stories and secrets in the eyes of cats. I came to Mexico City for one year to work as a volunteer and stayed ten years because of love. Mexico turned out to be a universe impossible to understand and my heart expanded by learning to love without understanding. I found Hridaya Yoga “by accident” and this encounter resulted in a revolution. I left my stable life in the city and dove into the world that I understood even less than the Mexican universe. This adventure continues. The Mystery of Stillness seduced…

Burkhard Langemann has a passion for the integration of spirituality and science. A unified understanding of Eastern and Western Philosophies is the focus of his personal practice and academic research. He holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology and Alternative Education from the Free University of Berlin, where his thorough exploration of Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory culminated in a thesis in Holistic Development. Burkhard Langemann began studying yoga in India in 2001, and since then he has dedicated more than 3,000 hours to the study of hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, meditation, and yogic philosophy. After completing more than 1,000 hours of…

Cristina Espinosa has been practicing hatha yoga since the age of 15 but her interests include mountaineering, African dance and photography. She grew up in Mexico City and the need to connect to the natural forces of life guided her to study Biology. Working with NGO’s and trying to save the jaguar and other endangered species in Mexico was her goal and motivator for a few years, until an understanding that the true change towards the environment and respect for every aspect of creation had to come from within the individual, and the outer world was the reflection of our…

Dominik, a Taurus, was born and raised in the beautiful countryside of Southeast Austria. After watching a documentary about Shaolin monks in elementary school, he became fascinated by the power of spiritual practice. At an early age, Dominik began to explore and practice energy work. Through his practice and by studying plant medicines, reading inspirational books, and attending seminars with spiritual teachers in the West, he has learned that he is more than just the physical body. At the age of nineteen, Dominik left his career as an electronics technician and began traveling. During his journey, he encountered Agama Yoga…

Esther Greter grew up in a little village in the heart of Switzerland where she spent most of her time in the fields and forests of the area either on the back of a horse or adventuring with her dog. She remembers that even at a very young age she was struck again and again by the beauty of nature and life in general and found herself wondering about her existence on this earth. She calls her grandmother with whom she grew up her first spiritual teacher and role model, a real inspiration for true devotion to God and conscious…

It was death that finally brought Tara Trimmer into the path of service. One day, she found herself at a point in her life where she was continuously daydreaming about all the things she would do once she finished what she thought she was expected to do by society and, ultimately, by the mind-construct she so profoundly identified with. Coming to the realization that death could occur at any moment, of any day, Tara decided to start living the life her heart so intensely yearned for. What she really wanted to do was to practice meditation, hatha yoga and immerse…

Since childhood, Ilaria has felt a calling in her heart and a connection with the Divine Mother. While she was attending courses at ‘Association ASIA’ in Bologna in 2004, she came across yoga and meditation and this strong experience altered her life path. After graduating in Dams Theatre, Ilaria obtained a Master’s degree in philosophical counseling and techniques of Nonterapia (Integral Yoga, Pranayama, Tibetan Yoga, Rebirthing, Shamanic Yoga, Nada Yoga, Kundalini Yoga) She practices Shamanic Yoga with Selene Calloni Williams and Vipassana meditation with the Theravada Buddhist monk, Sumanaloka Thero. In parallel, she teaches theater and offers after-school dance education to children.…

Ingrid Goudsmit held a strong interest in Buddhism and Shamanism as a young girl but it was not until 2002 that she started practicing Zen with Jeroen Witkam, a Zen master and Benedictine monk in Zundert, Holland. In 2004, after pursuing a degree and career in Communications, she decided to travel the world where she ‘by coincidence’ encountered the Agama International Yoga School in Thailand. Following the teachings and practices of Agama both opened her to a new level of spiritual practice as well as helped her recover from heavy physical trauma that her doctors believed she had no chance…

Jasmin’s spiritual path started at a very young age when she was sent to attend a Rudolf Steiner Waldorf school, where she cultivated an appreciation for the beauty of life, an innocent wonderment of this dream, creativity and an understanding of the beauty of our individual expressions of the Divine. These lessons of her childhood have guided her whole life. She has spent her years with nature as her close friend and teacher and has found great wisdom in the ocean. But her greatest teacher has always been life itself. Allowing its natural ebb and flow to guide her on this journey, it brought her to yoga at…

“Accepting with Love ‘what is, as it is.’” Juliane grew up between the Austrian mountains and the beautiful German countryside of Munich. Since childhood she felt a natural deep connection with the divine consciousness. She studied Art, Fashion- and Graphic design and works as a designer, many years in Florence and now all around the world. 2007 she found the Agama/ Trika school in Rishikesh in India and discovered her passion for Tantra Yoga. After her first Hridaya Retreat in Thailand with Sahajananda she finally had the feeling of truly coming back home, in the Heart. In 2011 she danced through the Mystical Dance Teacher…

Juliette’s first teacher (from age 2) was her father, Alexander, who led bedside prayers in the dark evoking Jesus, the Divine Mother and the Consciousness of Oneness. From a young age she has been sensitive to boundaries and barriers that have been placed across religions, cultures and humanity itself. She is rebellious by nature and has spent most of her life in contemplating duality both within herself and the world. When she met Sahajananda & Hridaya Yoga in 2011, she became aware of the ridiculousness of duality and the separation it was causing within herself. And that in fact living with…

A ten day silent vipassana retreat was Justine’s first introduction into meditation and it was love at first sight. She comes from a long line of doers (people who like to be very active and don’t know how to sit still), therefore the concept sitting and quieting the mind was quite foreign. However, when the stillness finally came, it swept Justine off her feet and she has now committed to a life-long partnership. Instead of riding off into the sunset with her new love, she carried her pillows into the Hridaya retreats time and time again; each journey into the…

Keith, a Leo, resides in Boulder, Colorado, in the United States. He grew up in upstate New York, graduating from Syracuse University with a Computer Science degree and subsequently beginning a career as an engineer for IBM. Before discovering the spiritual path, he always had a strong drive to “figure things out,” which early in his life meant pursuing academic knowledge and worldly success. For more than eight years, Keith explored a variety of positions within IBM and concluded those years by earning an MBA from the University of Denver. Reevaluating his priorities, he eventually left his career to travel…

Kilian Hübinger found his first vocation in life in music, and it was only after finishing university studies with a degree in Jazz Saxophone, when he felt the calling to consciously explore the more fundamental questions of life. During extended travels he opened his heart to the beauty in manifestation and to the deeper conditions of human existence. In 2008 his way led him to study yoga with Agama Yoga in Rishikesh, India. Pursuing his practice he noticed powerful transformations taking place in his being, and consequently the wish arose to share these teachings with others. Kilian completed the Agama…

Kirsten studied Architecture and Art History in Berlin. She later founded a development aid organization and traveled extensively in Asia and Latin America. In 2001, she discovered yoga and began a dedicated practice in a Sivananda Yoga Ashram in India. This experience was followed by a comprehensive three-year education in hatha and kundalini yoga with Swami Vivekananda Saraswati which introduced her to the more subtle aspects of asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, and yogic philosophy. Kirsten’s later studies with Reinhard Gammenthaler deepened her personal practice and her understanding of the yogic tradition. In Mysore, India, she studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Patanjala Yoga with Sri Sheshadri, Pranayama…

Krista began her studies of Yoga and Meditation in her homeland of Canada. She has always been fascinated with the potential of awakening to our Essential Nature. She began her studies with Agama in 2006 and lived in the yogic community in Thailand until 2011 studying Hatha and Kundalini Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism. In the time she was grateful to begin teaching Hatha yoga and holding Shakti groups. She had been experimenting with retreats from various other traditions and was completely enchanted with her first Hridaya meditation retreat with her teacher Sahajananda in 2007. Over the next 5 years she regularly attended retreats, and in 2011 she…

Latifa has aspiration for spiritual growth has inspired her to deepen in the yogic and tantric teachings. The need of Self-understanding and healing brought her to have her first approach to spirituality and non-dual teachings from a group of essenian mexican healers from Cuernavaca. With the essenians Latifa discovered her passion for natural healing, the mysteries of the soul, energies and self-awareness. This was her invitation to Yoga. Latifa has been practicing yoga since 2008 and teaching since 2011. She loves all styles of yoga and teaches Agama, Anusara, Tantra and Hridaya. She feels eternal gratitude to walk the path of yoga everyday, an…

Liviu Gheorghe graduated from the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute, Department of Computers, in 1986. His first spiritual experiences related to the expansion of consciousness were at the age of 16 when he was studying Christian doctrine and, later, Buddhism. He started studying and practicing yoga and meditation in high school and began to teach yoga in 1991 in three Romanian towns: Bucharest, Constanta, and Brasov. In 1995, he founded the Kamala Yoga Center with Simona Trandafir. The Kamala Center is one of the most active promoters of the holistic system of spiritual healing and Naturopathy in Romania. Aiming to promote specific…

Hello! My name is Maeioum Martínez, I was born this lifetime in Mexico, I speak Spanish and English. I was blessed to have a mother who was into metaphysics so the spiritual dimension of life was part of my vision since I was a child, and it became apparent for me that nature has many clues on how to connect with ourselves, in a way that powerful feelings arises within stirring up a longing oneness and an understanding of life. In my vision the only possible way of living this life is: in harmony within ourselves, with mother nature and…

Teacher, Meditator, Explorer, Woman. Her Home is where her Heart is. In 2013, Gosia (short for Malgorzata) took a major turn to free herself from preconceived ideas of what life should look like. She took a career break from a successful corporate life to find her true passion and a new recipe for life. The break turned into two years of exploration of deep yearning and the true calling of the Heart, as she stumbled upon the Hridaya Yoga Center. In this paradise setting, she explored the teachings of non-duality. She meditated daily, practiced hatha yoga, and participated in many…

Maribel spent several years working for the most important Law firms in Spain as an International Tax Advisor after receiving a Master degree in business Law. Though she enjoyed this experience she felt something was missing and after a few months of yoga and meditation a deep calling prompted a huge life change and transformation. Maribel quit her career as a Lawyer to work as a volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, the order founded by Mother Teresa. Maribel spent a few months assisting dying people and working with the poorest of the poor and for the…

The romantic surroundings of Celtic nature during Niamh’s childhood evoked reflections on the wonders of our existence. Though this echoed throughout her life, it wasn’t until 2000 Niamh became fully conscious of her spiritual path, at which point she embarked on a transformative journey. Involved in an artistic background at the time this significant transition became life changing, since she eventually directed all her creative intuitions toward a spiritual path. Niamh embarked on extensive travels around the world where she developed trainings and insights from spiritual teachers in Yoga, Tantra, Breath work, Buddhism and more. Teaching for ten years, Niamh…

Om (Ricardo Cristovao) was born in Portugal, star sign Aquarius, in 1979. Youngest son of 10 children, he always had many influences and visions of what life is and what it should be, but was never satisfied by these small definitions of Life. Since a very young age, he felt that he was a Jedi, a user of the Force but didn’t know how to use it…Also due to being raised in a very Christian family, already at the age of 7, a deep understanding came that if Jesus was Son of God and if We were his Brothers, We should also…

Radha is a Hridaya Yoga teacher and meditation practitioner who has spent many years living in our community in Mazunte, Mexico learning directly from Sahajananda. Inspired by the depth of the teachings, Radha has held space and taught daily hatha yoga classes, 3- to 10-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreats, and meditation workshops in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bulgaria, Norway, and New Zealand. She aspires to share her heart with everyone willing to come back home to their true essence and anyone who aspires to a deep spiritual practice. She teaches in English, Spanish, and Bulgarian. Email: amrita.hridayam@gmail.com

Sean first came to yoga in 2006, though he has spent much of his life in Self Enquiry. His search started at a young age due to an intense yearning to understand what happens when we die. Over time this search led him to Hridaya and Agama yoga, first in Thailand then India and Mexico. These schools provided a framework and a practice to thoroughly delve into the questions that he had been seeking answers to. Sean works as a physiotherapist when in Australia His studies meant that he has developed a very rational mind. The school provided very logical explanations to spiritual,…

Sebastian Teodor found the attraction to spirituality in middle school. In high school, expressing his desire to learn yoga, he studied any book in the field which appeared in Romania and at 16, he started to practice yoga and meditation with Simona Trandafir in Brasov. In 1996 he became a yoga instructor in three Romanian towns: Fagaras, Brașov, and Miercurea Ciuc. During the 1990s, he met Sahajananda and affirmed that at that time: “for me, he was a genuine yogi model of attainment through spiritual practice.” Sebastian is now a yoga teacher in the Kamala School and he teaches yoga and meditation…

Simona Trandafir has been a spiritual teacher since 1985. During this time she has inspired and coordinated large groups of yogis. She is an experienced yoga teacher, as acknowledged by Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500). Even though she is a graduate of the Automation and Computers University, she felt that her entire life should be dedicated to opening people’s hearts towards the inherent beauty of existence. This is what she was called to do since she was 12, and she now continues her mission. Hundreds of people from Bucharest, Constanta, Brasov, and other places in Romania started practicing yoga with Simona.…

Born and raised in southern Germany, Stephan Oesterreicher, began walking his spiritual path right after graduating from high school. It was then that he began traveling the world in pursuit of deepening his awakening and following the calling of his heart. His path has taken him to over 40 countries – Nepal, India, Thailand, Romania, Canada, Ireland, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and the United States – to name a few. He spent 2 years in India in the Himalayas studying Buddhism in Tibetan monasteries. It was while in India that a guru gave him the name “Lakshman”. From there his…

Tamara stumbled across Hridaya by walking past the school in Mazunte, Mexico one day. Her heart had called her. She had been travelling, deepening & searching for “something more” whilst exploring around the world. She completed the Hridaya Teacher Training in 2013 to deepen her own practice & to open her heart further, however she could not deny sharing the teachings of Hridaya & is now beginning to teach in her home land of Australia. She is also an Occupational Therapist working in the Australian Healthcare system. She is currently working with people with chronic diseases, oncology, palliative care and…

Tiffany Nicholson-Smith, a radiant yogini, lover of life and devotee to service, brings her clarity, abundant energy and aspiration for truth into everything she commits herself to. Her interests span the globe and all aspects of life, encompassing any teachings and knowledge that will contribute to the growth of her heart and always with a consideration for the benefit of all those she touches. A world citizen, she approaches life and every culture with an open heart, touched by the diversity of ways that the Divine is honored throughout various traditions. Tiffany first came to Yoga as an avid athlete and figure-skater, enjoying…

Veronica Cernat, born under the sign of Leo, graduated in Forestry from the University of Brasov, Romania. She has been practicing yoga since 1991 and teaching yoga since 2004. Veronica worked as a translator and editor for several journals, including Mystery Magazine, Yoga Magazine (1998-1999), and Elixirum – The Magazine of Naturism and Spirituality (2001-2004). She translated the French works “La voie du coeur” and “Pour une vie reussie, un amour reussi” by Arnaud Desjardins into Romanian (2008, 2009). She has been teaching at the Kamala Center since 1995. “I work with many students in the field of spiritual transformation and feminine…

From childhood, Weston felt a yearning to explore and challenge the world he lived in. At age 18, driven by a dissatisfaction for materialistic society, he began exploring the earth, observing culture and lifestyle on six of the seven continents. Upon discovering meditation in 2009, the realization finally appeared that the greatest exploration to be done… is not external but internal. The path became clearer through influences of Christianity, Buddhism, Tantra and Advaita Vedanta where the focus of Heart opening and selfless service are the means for true fulfillment. With a certified background in Carpentry, creation is the name of…

Nirav met Sahajananda in 2007 during a Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat in Thailand. Hridaya was a practice that Nirav found to be very intimately close to his heart and soul. The practice awakened him to a deeper knowing in his soul and introduced him to something that he had never before experienced in such a profound manner. Two years later, Nirav traveled with Sahajanada throughout India. In 2010, he began giving his first Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreats. Nirav continues to give retreats every year at Anuttara Ashram, which Sahaja visited in 2010. Nirav holds Sahajanada close to his heart as…

Emma trained as a Hridaya teacher in 2012 and now owns and runs The Hermitage Retreat Center with her partner Severin and baby Benzra on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. She is a deep admirer of Ramana Maharshi and a passionate practitioner of Self Enquiry. Emma coordinates the individual retreats, dark retreats and group retreats at The Hermitage, and teaches the Three Month Advaita Vedanta Retreat herself. She loves sitting on the lake in her canoe and watching the rain come from accross the mountains with her baby boy. Emma also loves to write poetry and sing.

Severin is a passionate meditator, astrologer and practitioner of Advaita Vedanta, and continues to study these subjects from his home in Guatemala. In 2013 he completed the Hridaya teachers training and in 2014 he built a beautiful retreat center, The Hermitage Retreat Center, on Lake Atitlan, which offers individual retreats, dark retreats, and long group mediation retreats. He has a baby boy named Benzra who he loves to spend early mornings with watching the sun rise over the lake.

Diane is Irish and was raised as Roman Catholic. Her mother had cancer and left her body when Diane was only 18. This heartbreak has led Diane to question God, life, and death since 1998. She has continued to heal and search for the meaning of life while supporting others of all ages do the same. Diane has a deep calling to help others and completed two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Social Care. She has worked in hospitals, homes, and communities in Ireland, France, and Australia. She cared for those with life-threatening illnesses and has witnessed many people go…

Karin practiced Vipassana meditation for many years before she began studying Hatha Yoga and Tantra Yoga in Sweden in 2011. When she found Hridaya in 2014 it felt like a beautiful combination of her previous practices—she definitely had a feeling of coming back home to the Heart, falling in love! She has stayed and taught at the Hridaya Yoga Center in Mazunte since graduating from the Hridaya Teacher Training Course in 2016. In addition to being a Hridaya teacher, Karin is also a graduate of Durga’s Tiger School Tantra Yoga Teacher Training (based in Ecuador). She has also worked as…

Molly Nixon is a 2015 graduate of the Hridaya Teacher Training Course. She and her partner Kyle are dedicated to serving the Heart by supporting refugees in crisis. She has shared a post on our blog exploring the dance between global awareness and inner peace. Molly has spent the past 18 months volunteering with refugees in, and Turkey. She is currently coordinating the Lifting Hands International project in Northern Greece and Northern Jordan. She offers her services and programs from the project, these range of offerings, including: Women’s English lessons German lessons for women, men, and teenagers Theater workshops Trauma-sensitive…

Sophie Weiser is a 2015 Hridaya Teacher Training Course graduate from Berlin, Germany. Her struggle with the disconnection and perceived emptiness of the art world brought her to Hridaya. It was in Mazunte that she rediscovered the feeling of coming home and realized how much this connection was needed back in Berlin. Upon her return to Germany, she opened Your Space with Michaela Aue—a base camp from which to spread the Hridaya teachings and a gateway to genuine experiences. After two years of running this space, the two have now expanded their focus to include the corporate world, sowing seeds for…

Marco is an aquarian born in 1978. He began the practice of yoga 20 years ago with the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and the Kriya Yoga, deepening the studies of Indian philosophy in many years spent in India. He is a long time disciple of Swami Vivekananda Saraswati founder of Agama Yoga, who initiate him to the supreme knowledge of the Tantric path of the Kashmir Shaivism , the Hatha-Yoga and Kundalini practices of the authentic Tantric Yoga tradition. He was certified with a teacher training course RYS 500 at Agama Yoga school in Thailand. He is also a meditation teacher following since many years…

Passionate about people, international connectivity, and what drives us to evolve, feel empowered, and inspire others, Anneke started her career supporting entrepreneurs to create sustainable solutions to health, clean energy, and food security issues. This work took her to Asia (where she fell in love with yoga), the Middle East, and, eventually, East Africa. Working across cultures and continents showed her that despite obvious differences, we all share the same fundamental human DNA. Ancient yogic wisdom supports this, approaching the human being as a multidimensional creature, deeply interconnected and with a strong inner capacity to heal and evolve. As her…

Rosanna Osterlund has been a seeker since childhood, but it wasn’t until she started traveling in 2011 that she began to find answers. A natural caretaker and giver of love, in 2013 her journey finally turned inward when serendipity led her to try meditation for the first time and a little fire was kindled in her heart for yoga. The end of 2014 saw that love burst into flames when she found the Hridaya Yoga Center in Mexico. The calling was clear, and Rosanna embarked on a full journey of silent retreats, karma yoga, and an ever-deepening personal practice. She…